Lech Poznan will be in a confident mood after a draw in their Polish league game on Saturday against second-placed Legia Warsaw, as they host Hapoel Be'er Sheva at Stadion Poznan on Thursday.
Their opponents from Israel also picked up a victory in their previous game, a 2-1 win against Maccabi Netanya, which continued a three-match winning run for Elyaniv Barda's side.
Match preview
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Poznan are unbeaten in their last six league games, which has included four wins and impressively five clean sheets, even limiting Legia Warsaw to no shots on target in their last fixture.
Swedish forward Mikael Ishak has been in good form in the offensive third, scoring three times and creating two goals in only six starts so far this season, already bettering his goal tally from his last campaign, which is to be expected as he only appeared in four league games.
Their two Europa Conference League games have been full of goals, a heart-breaking 4-3 in their first fixture against Villarreal where Francis Coquelin scored an 89th-minute winner, followed by a dominant 4-1 victory against Austria Vienna when Kristoffer Velde was on target twice.
Dutch manager John van den Brom will be hoping that his side can continue their fine form in front of goal in the Europa Conference League, whilst also bringing in their defensive prowess from their league matches in order to help them secure second place in this group, in order to qualify for the playoffs before the knockout stages.
If Poznan could win all their games before facing off against Villarreal in their final group game, there could even be the potential to finish top of the group and qualify automatically for the knockout stages of the competition.
Their opponents Hapoel have picked up their league form after losing two of their first three league games, although one of these defeats was a narrow one to top-of-the-table Maccabi Haifa, whilst also picking up one point so far in the Europa Conference League against Austria Vienna.
Their main source of goals this season has been attacking midfielder Ramzi Safouri, who has scored three times in four appearances in the league, but he picked up a hamstring injury and therefore someone else will need to step up in the offensive third.
Elyaniv Barda will need his side to step up defensively - like they did en route to a clean sheet against Austria Vienna - and for Rotem Hatuel to help make a difference in terms of goals, as he did when coming off the bench to score against Villarreal.
These two back-to-back fixtures against Lech Poznan will pretty much determine whether they can finish second in the group or not, as if they perform well in both these games, they could give themselves a real chance of finishing in that playoff spot, which is not out of the question as they performed admirably against Villarreal.
Lech Poznan form (all competitions):
- W
- L
- D
- W
- W
- D
Hapoel Be'er Sheva form (all competitions):
- L
- D
- W
- L
- W
- W
Team News
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After an impressive performance over the weekend, it is unlikely that there will be many changes to the Lech Poznan starting lineup, with Ishak continuing to lead the line on his own in a 4-4-1-1 formation.
Two goals from the bench against Austria Wien in their last Europa Conference League game will most likely mean that Velde starts this game, as he has now seemingly made that spot on the right-hand side of the attack his own.
As mentioned, with Safouri out injured, a change will be made from the Hapoel side which last played in the Europa Conference League, with it being likely that Dor Micha will take his place in the side.
Hapoel have preferred to use a four-at-the-back formation throughout the season and even though they used a five-at-the-back against Villarreal with some success, they are expected to stick with a four-man defence for this one.
Lech Poznan possible starting lineup:
Bednarek; Douglas, Milic, Dagerstal, Pereira; Skoras, Kvekveskiri, Karlstrom, Velde, Amaral; Ishak
Hapoel Be'er Sheva possible starting lineup:
Glazer; Abu Abaid, Vitor, Tibi, Dadya; Elias, Micha, Hatuel, Bareiro; Hemed, Suleymanov
We say: Lech Poznan 3-0 Hapoel Be'er Sheva
With Lech Poznan's clear offensive advantage in this game, they will be expected to score a few goals and win this game comfortably, and with their recent strong defensive record, a clean sheet would not be a surprise.
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